City Councilwoman Denise Moore aims to revitalize former school

Despite the fact that a recent attempt to revive the closed Peoria District 150 school came up short, the facility is showing signs of life again.

Plenty of hopes — and money — had been invested in the 65,000 square-foot building to turn it into a business incubator project, but Tim Krueger’s Thrive Capital Partners closed in December after being in operation for less than a year.

Now it’s Denise Moore’s turn. The First District Peoria City Council member is working to reuse the building with Chad Berry, the owner who purchased the school at auction for $16,500 after it closed in 2006.

The building’s first new tenant plans to make a little noise, said Moore, who expects a low-power radio station to be broadcasting from studios at the school by July.

“We received our broadcast license in January,” she said, referring to WPNV-FM 106.3, a station that Moore said will offer “old school” music (with lyrics) “that I won’t have to worry about when I’m riding in the car with my grandson.”

The station will play rhythm and blues, both old and contemporary, as well as “some rap at night,” she said.

But WPNV will serve another purpose along with playing music, said Moore. “The intent of the station is to educate the community about area events,” she said.

“The South Side is lacking in a vehicle to convey issues to the community,” said Moore, noting that B92, the radio station launched by Mike Banks to serve the African-American community in Peoria, closed in the late 1990s.

The low-power station will be heard across a three-and-half-mile radius, she said. “It will cover the South Side, the North Valley, up to Bradley (University) and the East Bluff,” said Moore, adding that the station will also be broadcast over the Internet.

A campaign to raise $40,000 is underway to purchase equipment for the station, she said.

For Moore, building a radio station isn’t anything new. She started Bloomington’s low-power WXRJ-FM 94.9 seven years ago. While that station — still on the air — operates solely through volunteers, the Peoria operation will need paid staff, she said.

“We’ll need to elevate our fund-raising methods,” said Moore, who also wants to elevate the activity level at the old school building, where refurbished rooms stand ready to be used.

“We’d like this building to serve as a community center. The owner is very committed to that,” she said.

Moore has also formed a Peoria chapter of the Black Business Alliance, a group she formed in Bloomington 17 years ago, that will hold its first meeting at Blaine-Sumner at 6 p.m. Monday.

Mark Rothert, assistant county administrator for Peoria County, Charles Randle of Illinois Business Financial Services and Dave Schrader of South Side Bank will be presenters.

Jannise Bush, chapter president, looks for the school to serve as an economic hub for an area where unemployment runs “north of 30 percent.”

“We want to help get peoplestarted in business,” said Bush, who runs two businesses of her own as well as being a SCORE volunteer. Sitting in a school room slated to serve as a community business development center, Bush said it was important to provide tools to help people succeed.

“We want to demystify what it takes to start a business,” she said.

The school building stands empty now, but Moore doesn’t expect that to be the case much longer. “When Thrive left this space, some thought it was a death knell, but we don’t believe that,” she said.

Steve Tarter is the Journal Star’s business editor. Tarter’s phone number is 686-3260, and his email address is starter@pjstar.com. Follow his blog, Minding Business, on pjstar.com and follow him on Twitter @SteveTarter.